Hyderabad: Ugadi festivities go lackluster as disabled fail to get Aasara

Rajendranagar: Ugadi remained dry and dull for the disabled persons as they are still waiting to get their monthly Aasara pension released by the government.

Officially it is supposed to be released upto 5th of every month. The delay in releasing the pension made the beneficiaries upset.

They are seen venting frustration against the holdup. "Leave alone the loan facility, even the Aasara pensions are not yet released to the disabled persons.

We were expecting that the government would release the pension before Ugadi festival but to our dismay it is not done till date," bemoaned A Srinivas, a disabled person from Gagan Pahad area.

"We are solely depending on the Aasara pension being released every month. Even groceries and my medicine have finished.

What should I do? Whenever we ask an official they say that the release would take time till the end of this month as the government departments are busy in preparing new fiscal proceedings.

Disabled people are the most neglected section of society, we always suffer in silence without any commiseration," felt Hitesh, another disabled person from Rajendranagar.

An official on request of anonymity said, "As the new financial year has set into motion of late, it would surely take more 10 to 15 days to release the pensions under Aasra Scheme as March is the opening month."

There are nearly seven lakh applications of different categories pending since the last three years under Aasara Scheme.

Earlier the pensions would have been sanctioned within two to three months after applying. However, the present situation is quite different wherein applications are not getting approved even after three years, informed State Honorary President National Platform for the Rights of Disabled (NPRD) Gorenkala Narsimha.

Leave alone the new applications, he further said, "the government didn't take pain even to fill the gap of expired disabled persons who were passed away during the last three years. The Government must give pensions on time as thousands of people are dependent on it.

They should also take appropriate measures to clear all the pending applications thrown out under the littering basket since three years, demanded Narsimha.